Nasher

Not at all. I for one think you present a very strong argument. The problem is though, that from afar many of us in the southern half of the country probably can't really come to terms with how deeply rooted league's hold on Sydney really is. Your example of a second team to the Storm in Melbourne is a great one. There's no way Melbourne could support a second team in that sport. Melbourne is AFL mad. The converse applies in Sydney. The Swans have been in Sydney for nearly 25 years, and only recently have they really been able to stand on their own two feet, but even then it's wobbly. Paul Roos has said ad nauseum that his side can't afford to bottom out because it would be disasterous for the club off the field. It has the potential to do all their hard work. I think the AFL is making all the right steps in promoting the game in Sydney, but the market penetration for League is too deep. With time, AFL support might deepen given all the AFL's legwork to date, but it has an awfully long way to go. A good discussion overall.

No, anyone who is not on an AFL club list can nominate for the ND, that's why we were able to pick up previously listed duds like Moorcroft and Funcke in the ND, as well as Ryan Ferguson who was a mature aged player playing in the VFL. It's why Ashley Sampi is eligible -- no longer on an AFL list. As far as I know, there's nothing to stop you or I for nominating for the ND if we wanted to, except I doubt either of us would get drafted. The only differences between the PSD and the ND are that currently uncontracted, listed players can nominate, and a player can put a price on his head. That's why if you're picking someone untried, I think you may as well pick them up in the ND and just pass in the PSD.

I don't see the point in drafting untrieds in the PSD. You might as well just draft them in the ND or the RD if you think they're worth anything. It just seems to defeat the purpose of the PSD to me.

Why is there so much back slapping going on here? You guys LOST. Sack the coach. Pathetic. :angry: :D

I'd dispute Fevola. His career was finished until Pagan came along. I'm probably just splitting hairs anyway, your point is still just as valid.

Fantastic appointment. Looks like some real resources are being thrown at the FD now. I can't wait to see whether it bears fruit. Bring on the season.

That's a good question, actually. Have you written a letter to the AFL? I'd be interested in their response to that.

You've drawn an enormously long bow there. I think Rhino is right, you're speaking from the heart and not the brain.

I can't see how you would come to that conclusion. Carlton getting 9 home games has nothing to do with their tanking, and everything to do with the fact that people go to watch them play.

Genuine question here, not a rhetorical one -- how exactly does someone "work" on their balance? I would have thought balance is something you either have or don't. Robbo's a good example of someone with no balance.

Exactly. I wrote an essay on this about 15 posts up -- I should've just used your one liner. Summed up perfectly.

As Rhino has said ad nauseum in this thread to date, it's all about bums on seats. Carlton, for all their absolute woefulness on the field and off it in recent times, still draw a crowd. They have the luxury of a large supporter base who don't jump ship at the sight of tough times. It is in the AFL's interests to keep them in Melbourne for the time being. The reason they have not resorted to selling home games is because it would not be a significant revenue boost for them. They get plenty of cash playing here because people actually come to watch them. Unlike Carlton, the only surefire way our club can continue to keep the cash rolling in and therefore keeping our home games in Melbourne is to win more footy matches. The onus on this footy club to prove to the AFL why it should get to travel interstate less than it currently does. Look, I think it sucks that we get these "unfair" draws every year, but that's an unavoidable fact of life in the business world. The less viable entities get the least preferrential treatment. There's only one way out of this hole for us, and bitching and moaning about the draw isn't it. Besides, I don't think that a couple of extra interstate trips a year makes that much difference. Clubs that have been successful in the very recent past like West Coast Port, Brisbane and Sydney all travel interstate far more than we do. Instead of bitching about it, the club needs to just harden up and figure out how to win those interstate matches we've become so good at losing recently. The game is evolving, and at the moment we're on the unfavourable end of that evolution. We (the club) have got two choices. We can either whinge, blame everyone else, and watch our club drown, or we can adapt and make the best of it. What do you think?

Message to Rhino Richards and Dappa Dan: Saw you guys managed to turn one of this guy's other no-content threads in to some semblance of a discussion -- any chance you could work your magic on this one too? I think the "if you don't have anything to say, don't post a thread saying it" principle is grossly underrated by some.

True, but pre-injury his name would not have been on the table, so it's a moot point.

Mark Johnson is -- or at least was -- a better player than Moorcroft. Moorcroft was a dud before well before he ever came to Melbourne. That said, I don't want Johnson either. His serviceable best is long behind him.

Totally agree with that. They've got four retirees, three delistings, two rookie promotions and two trade-ins. Come draft season they have a grand total of three vacancies on their list for the draft. Unless someone further goes, we will have the second live PSD pick. Needless to say, they're up in arms over at PRE.

Found it: So I'm guessing he didn't settle in "reasonable OK" then. Franky, Dunn's a midfielder I believe.

I remember reading a profile on Collard last year before the draft, said something along the lines of him having all the skills but was "painfully shy" and naive about the requirements of AFL footy players. I wonder if his personality was the cause of his failure.

Krakouer's life has unravelled before his eyes, Patrick Bowden is even softer than his brother and Hartigan is just a plain old dud.

Don't we call them "full stops" in Australia?

I agree with that Sylvinator. Very, very few people have truly had their careers wrecked by OP. Stephen Powell is the only one I can think of whose genuine career was genuinely stuffed because of it. Even if you look at someone like Moloney, he was reasonably fit this year until he was forced into a much heavier workload because there was nobody else. So yes, the chances of Masten's OP being unmanageable is pretty remote.

He spent the mid-late season in limbo -- somewhere in between KPP, flanker and midfielder. I'm just looking forward to seeing how he is going to be used more than anything. He's one of the biggest question marks on our list in terms of where his future is.

Because Carroll looks like a bogan, and isn't as integral to the team as McLean. They're the only reasons. I strongly agree with you on this point; there's some sheer hypocracy going on. We should be presuming that Carroll and McLean were just as innocent or guilty as each other given the lack of evidence to the contrary. I don't think Rivers was present for the second incident, which is why he has not been named.

..and then rubbishing them when they are presented.

I think sometimes it's a good idea to realise when you are out of your depth.